Prosecutors Subpoena Rutgers Emails on Tyler Clementi
Before Rutgers freshman Tyler Clementi committed suicide after his sexual encounter was streamed online, he emailed officials in his dorm about what was going on. Now, prosecutors want to see Rutgers' response. Also, the lawyer for Clementi's roommate has spoken.
Just before he leapt from the George Washington bridge, Clementi wrote a series of posts on a message board mentioning that he'd emailed his RA and his RA's supervisors about what happened. The NJ Star-Ledger reports that prosecutors in the case have subpoenaed Rutgers for copies of emails detailing the school's response (whether Clementi's own emails would be included is unclear). Which raises the possibility that Rutgers itself could get into trouble before this case is over—"Prosecutors asked for the subpoenas after investigators felt some at the state university were not fully cooperating with the investigation into the high-profile suicide, said two officials who were briefed on the probe."
Also yesterday, an attorney for Dharun Ravi, Clementi's roommate and the main culprit charged in the case, issued a vague statement:
"In regards to statements made by the prosecuting agencies of their continuing investigation and whether to file bias charges against Dharun Ravi, I am heartened to hear that they are taking their time to learn all the facts before rushing to judgment. I can only hope that the public will do the same. I am confident that nothing will be learned to justify, warrant or support the filing of any bias criminal complaint."
By contrast, an attorney for Molly Wei, whose room Ravi was reportedly in when he spied on Clementi, has said flat-out that Wei is innocent of any crime.